Stress Management

What’s up Vida juicers! My name is Lionel Correia and this is another episode of this week’s Wellness Wednesday. Today’s topic: Stress Management. Most of us live a busy, hectic life and unfortunately stress becomes part of it whether we like it or not. There is no doubt in my mind that family responsibilities, bills, relationships and career advances all can and do lead up to stress. What we all need to understand is that a lot of the time we create our own stress in our lives and since we create it, we can also eradicate it. There is no doubt that life is tough, but I believe that if we put more power on becoming a stronger person, we can better deal with stress and possibly even eliminate it all together. The Mayo Clinic, defines stress as, “a physical, mental and emotional response to a challenging event — not the event itself. Often referred to as the fight-or-flight response, the stress response occurs automatically when you feel threatened.” The key here to remember is that it’s not the event that causes stress, but rather how we respond to the event. When something irritates you or makes you upset, do you react to the situation, get extremely angry and explode in frustration or do you respond and keep a good head on your shoulders, while seeking a solution in a calm rational logical way? See by responding you’ll keep yourself under control and better to deal with the situation, while providing yourself less stress in the process. If you react and get irritated with the problem all you’re doing is putting yourself in a worst situation. This respond vs. react logic may be challenging at first and it’s definitely tough to respond correctly in every situation, but I find that if I concentrate on it long enough and I remind myself to respond, it helps me lead a calmer happier life. It also gives way to a solution much faster. For me, this has been one of the best ways for dealing with tough situations in my life and although it’s not an end all solution, it certainly helps. Here are a few other ways to combat tension and stress:

1.) Exercise! – My absolute favorite way of dealing with stress. Shoot for adding at least 3 – 4 days of exercise 30 – 45minutes per session. I don’t care if you run, walk, do yoga, lift weights, cycle or play hoops, as long as you’re moving and sweating the effects will take place. When we exercise our body releases endorphins and which makes us feel happier by the end of the work out.

2.) Eat a healthy diet – A body with malnutrition simply doesn’t function as well and won’t be able to respond to life’s challenges like one that eats good healthy whole foods. Don’t have time to cook: Add juicing and protein shakes to your diet. I know this will help fight stress because after I juice, I feel great!

3.) Get enough sleep – Ever wake up tired or sluggish even after your third cup of coffee or tea? Needless to say you probably didn’t get enough sleep. Getting a good night’s sleep allows the brain to rest and our bodies to function at a certain level throughout the day. A well-rested brain allows you to have better critical thinking skills and to make better, smatter decisions during the day.

4.) Stay Organized – Being unorganized is one of the quickest ways to procrastinate, which in turn creates stress. Ask me how I know. When we stay organized things flow much easier.

These are some of my favorite ways of dealing with stress. There are many more methods and solutions to stress management. What’s important is to find a one or two methods that work for you. Try these out, if they work, continue to use them, if not adopt some new ones. I know one thing is for sure life doesn’t have to be as stressful as we make it. T. Harv Eker says, “If we have a big problem in our life, it’s only because we are being a small person. The idea is to grow yourself bigger than your problems. If you grow yourself bigger than your problems then what can stop you? Nothing and you become unstoppable.” Until next week… Juice strong to live long!